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You most probably have noticed that when people speak, there is usually a change in pitch and speed when the speaker comes to the end of a thought or expression. When making a statement (as opposed to a question), the words sometimes slow down or speed up, and the voice usually falls in pitch at the logical end of the statement. Classical Latin orators of old recognized this, and applied the word cadens to it, meaning "a falling" from the verb cadere, "to fall." Mastery of the application of cadens (later cadentia) to speech was considered a sign of proper elocution.

Musicians (regardless of their prowess at elocution) noticed that melodies and harmonic sequences had similar points at which things just seemed to fall into place and suggest a sense of repose. They took that same word, which became the English word "cadence," and applied it to those places in music where a natural sort of pause occurred. As musical styles have changed through the centuries, the musical definition of 'cadence' has varied considerably. For example, Medieval music might sound strange to our ears because of the lack of familiar cadences (even though there are plenty!), while on the other end of the spectrum, recognizable cadences abound in the verse and chorus folk songs of the British Isles.

So, you might ask, are there any definitions of cadence that are independent of the style of music in which they appear? The answer, unfortunately, is no. But, within the purview of the musical era we are discussing, there are indeed definitions of cadences that are widely applicable. Coincidentally, these cadence definitions are still perfectly applicable to many popular music styles to this day.

Ancient music theorists demonstrated that the listener was most likely to perceive a sense of repose or resolution when the melody or harmony ended on the tonic, and this principle holds for most of the cadence types we'll discuss. But just as in speaking, sometimes a musical phrase will pause, but still be obviously poised to continue. In writing, we would notate a final pause with a period. A more transient pause, intended to delineate a phrase but intending to continue would be written with, say, a comma.

Let's look at some cadences that might be considered "final" cadences. The most common ending cadence is called an authentic[/b] cadence. In an authentic cadence, the harmony progresses from the dominant (V or other dominant function) to tonic (I). Here's an example of an authentic cadence:

Authentic cadences come in two flavors -- perfect and imperfect. In a perfect[/b] authentic cadence, the dominant and tonic are both in root position, and the uppermost voice (soprano) ends on the tonic. The cadence example above is a perfect authentic cadence.

An imperfect[/b] authentic cadence is still a progression from dominant to tonic, but one or more of the chords may be inverted, or the soprano may not end on the tonic. Here's an example of an imperfect authentic cadence:

There is another type of ending cadence that moves from the subdominant[/b] (IV or iv) to the tonic. This is known as a plagal[/b] cadence. The plagal cadence is not terribly common in anything but older church music, where it is frequently used to harmonize an "Amen" at the end. Try playing this example of a plagal cadence and you'll see what I mean:

All of the three cadences described so far are rather final, meaning that they serve to bring the harmonic progression to a (more or less) full stop, just like a period in writing. But often, the music will pause on a harmony other than the tonic, lending a feeling of a pause with intent to continue, just like using a comma in writing. This type of cadence is called a half[/b] cadence. A half cadence often appears in a passage where there are two similar phrases, where it is used to demarcate the end of the first phrase but not resolving to the tonic, so that there appears to be an impetus to continue. Many half cadences end on the dominant, since the dominant has a strong tendency to move forward. Here is an example of a half cadence:

Notice that while the actual harmony pauses at the last measure, it doesn't really sound as if it's finished. A half cadence on the dominant at the end of a phrase leaves the listener expecting that the musical thought hasn't yet been finished.

Finally, there are cadences that match none of the above scenarios. These are called deceptive[/b] cadences. The most common type of deceptive cadence is one where the harmony builds up to the dominant, but instead of the dominant resolving to the tonic, it resolves to another chord, typically the submediant (vi or VI). It is typically used for "dramatic" effect, as it catches the listener slightly off guard. Play the following example that ends in a deceptive cadence and see if you are just a little surprised at the end:

Now that you have all of these cadences under your belt, see if you can identify the cadences in the following chorale harmonized by J.S. Bach:

PS -- Feel like growing a bit of mint in your garden, but don't want it to take over? Remove the bottom from a large, empty coffee can (or something similar), dig a hole large enough to accommodate the can, and deep enough so that the when the can is placed in the hole, the top edge is flush with the soil surface. Place your mint plant inside the can and backfill the can with dirt. Planting mint like this will prevent it from spreading, but allows the roots to grow down into the soil for additional moisture. Since the steel in the coffee can will rust and disintegrate over time, you will need to repeat the process in two or three years, or else you can try using a plastic bucket (not too deep, though!) with its bottom removed instead. This method can also be used for other plants that can become invasive by spreading (like bamboo, evening primrose or lily of the valley).

Next topic:SCALE DEGREES -- You Can't Get One at Your Local College! (I)[/b]

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Sacred cows make the best hamburger. - Clemens

That was excellent, although I'm a little unsure how cadences figure into the musical education of a casual player. My teacher makes me do cadences for each key we practice. But why? What is it that practicing cadences helps you do?

Also, is *any* natural stopping point in the music a cadence of some sort? Or are only certain combinations recognized as a proper cadence?

Cindy -- admitting that she had to play the exercises very slowly and made many mistakes and then gave up completely on the song at the end

Originally posted by Cindysphinx:I'm a little unsure how cadences figure into the musical education of a casual player. My teacher makes me do cadences for each key we practice. But why? What is it that practicing cadences helps you do?[/b]

I'm not sure I can give you a definitive answer to your question, but I can throw out a few conjectures. Having a playing familiarity ("under your fingers", as it were) with cadences might, theoretically, assist in allowing the player to be able to play them more easily when they occur in pieces on which one is working. Knowing the dominant to tonic progression may make playing these cadences less of a learning chore. But, I would also expect that the reasoning behind it is so that the student can demonstrate his or her theory knowledge.

Quote:

Originally posted by Cindysphinx:Also, is *any* natural stopping point in the music a cadence of some sort? Or are only certain combinations recognized as a proper cadence?[/b]

Any pause or stopping point is a cadence. Re-read the definitions of half and deceptive cadences above. The two examples I gave were of the most common varieties of each, but they are by no means the only[/b] versions. There is some potential overlap in the definitions for half and deceptive cadences, since they are both pretty broadly described. The only real distinction between them is whether or not the cadence in question has a feeling of finality or more of a propensity to continue.

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Sacred cows make the best hamburger. - Clemens

I'm not Matt (and the world survives! ) but I think you're just FINE until you say 7 is G7.

G7 would be written V7 (or 57 if using Arabic numerals) and the 1, 4, 5, and 7 would be C,F,G, and B, which isn't sounding too good unless you say B (normally B, D#, F#) is really B diminished (i.e. B, D, F ) which I think Matt mentioned two weeks ago. Diatonic chords (using only keys in the scale) vs Chromatic chords. I think these were the two terms he used, though I don't have a really firm grip on the definition.

anyway, saying the 7 is B diminished, 1,4,5,7 (and back to 1 ) would be Cmaj, Fmaj, Gmaj, B diminished, Cmaj which sounds pretty good. I'm not EXACTLY sure what the following means, but if you combine the Gmaj and the B diminished chord you HAVE a G7 chord.

I broke the 2 lines into 4 lines so it would have less chance of causing PageStretch M = measure bar line ...... i.e. |5| is the START of measure 5 Chords are written in on each 1/8 note. Periods have no meaning, they are just place holders. ( I know I'm insensitive, but lets not go there. I just HATE to actually use the word "DOTS" in written correspondence. ) Pick up notes are at the beginning of the line, the "birds eye" or "holds" or formata are at the end of the line.

This isn't completed yet, I thought I'd throw it out there cause its taking a long time. There are authentic cadences at the end of (my) lines 1 and 3 and 4. Bb Bb C C f f may be an authentic cadence at the end of line 2 but because it goes across the formata, I'm not sure what to think. Measure 1 beats 3, 3&, 4 Measure 5 beats 3,3&, 4, $& is an authentic one.

Bob & Matt,thank you thank you thank you!!!I think I'm finally getting it. This week's lesson tied directly into the scale degrees stuff I am working on in my theory book and some of the stuff I'm working on in lessons. I got most of the chords right I think (going by Bob's post) but I lost it when it came to the 9th and the suspended chords, oh yeah the i4 lost me too. I also see the first two authentic cadences Bob mentions but didn't catch the 3rd one at the end since I didn't catch the V7 between the Am & Fm. I also got lost on the key change to Ab Maj and tried to figure all the degrees on Fm scale but got kind of lost there too. I guess I was actually lost quite a lot but it feels like its starting to click.

The cadences in this short chorale are fairly easy to spot because they all end with fermatas (or holds, those bird's-eye-looking marks).

So, let's look at the first cadence on beat 3 of the 2nd full measure. Assuming we're in f minor (a reasonable assumption), the harmony moves from the dominant (C) on beat 2 to the tonic (f) on beat 3. The bass notes go from C to F, and the soprano ends on F. Based on these criteria, this is a perfect authentic[/b] cadence.

Now, let's look at the second cadence, which occurs in measure 4. The harmony moves from the submediant (scale degree iv, here in first inversion) Bb to the dominant C. (BTW, don't let that g on the second beat in the alto voice throw you; it's a passing note.) Ending on the dominant is a common occurence in half[/b] cadences, and that's precisely what we have here. Look closely just following the cadence, and you'll see that this dominant is immediately followed by the tonic (f).

The cadence in measure 6 may have caused some confusion if you didn't actually listen to the chorale. You see, in the middle of measure 5, the tonality modulates from f minor to Ab Major (the relative Major of f minor). Thus, we'll have to analyze the harmony in measure 6 as being in Ab Major instead of f minor. With that in mind, notice that the bass moves from Eb to Ab -- dominant to tonic, and the soprano ends on Ab, the tonic. Thus, this is another classic perfect authentic[/b] cadence.

Finally, on to the last cadence at the end of the chorale. Following the cadence in measure 6, the harmony modulates back to f minor almost immediately. At the last measure, the bass moves from C (dominant) to F (tonic), and the soprano ends on the tonic F. So, once again, we have a third perfect authentic[/b] cadence.

For those of you who played the chorale and listened to the harmony, you might have noticed that while the piece is primarily in f minor, the chorale ends on an F Major[/b] chord. What's up with that? Well, this little bit of harmonic fun is called a "Picardy third," and it's a bit of a holdover from certain Medieval and Renaissance styles where it was argued that a piece should only ever end on a Major chord, even if the rest of the harmony was minor! You can still find lots of Picardy thirds in Baroque music that is of a somewhat conservative nature. J.S. Bach, despite all his incorporation of most of the stylistic trends of his day, still clung to the Picardy third for the end of many of the pieces he wrote in minor keys. Check out the ends of most of the minor-key fugues in his Wohltemperierte Klavier and you'll see what I mean.

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Sacred cows make the best hamburger. - Clemens

I'm wondering if there aren't two more cadences, one in Measure 1, beats 2,2&,3,3&. = gdim, bb7, C,C7 = iidim, 4m7, V, V7 which would be a half cadence. The phrase in Measure 2 and 3 does seem have a little pause at this point.

The 3rd phrase, (Measure 5,6 ) doesn't have quite as obvious a phrase break, but in Measure 5:beats 3,3&,4,4& =Eb, Eb7, Ab, Ab =V, V7, I, I (in Ab Major)which would be an authentic cadence, imperfect because soprano note is the 3rd.

The other question I would have would be how far back does the cadence go, or said another way, if the END of the cadence is pretty obvious, how do you determine the beginning of the cadence? The first chord that is NOT a (form of)IV, V or I?

IF a 12 chord phrase ends with a 2 or 3 chord cadence, what would be the correct terminology for the previous 9 or 10 chords? "Chord progression"? "precadenzic manifest"? (I'm guessing probably not the 2nd one. :rolleyes: )

I would be a little leery applying the term 'cadence' to any point in the piece without a fermata. My reasoning (and this is only my opinion, so take that for what it's worth) is that one generally takes an entire melodic or harmonic "gesture" into consideration when describing cadences. A gesture could be anything from a fragment of a phrase to an entire symphony, but I think in the context of this little chorale that the phrases are so short anyway that you probably don't have any true cadences within the four individual phrases. When we talk more about harmonic rhythm, we'll tackle some of the other cadential indicators besides just harmony.

So, just what parts of the music are cadences? By definition, a cadence can be anything from a single, final note or harmony to a long, drawn out progression of harmonies. Where does the cadence 'start?' There is no real definition to that, because there is seldom a clearly demarcated start to a cadence; they usually just kind of sneak their way in. But, for example, in some of the cadences I wrote in the samples above, you will notice that some of them have a I6-4 chord. This kind of occurence is usually referred to as the "cadential" 6-4, and as such could be considered part of the cadence, but there's such a blur between what is and isn't a cadence, it's almost irrelevant.

All that other stuff that isn't a cadence?Well, it doesn't have any special name. You want to call it "precadenzic manifest?" Go right ahead! "Antecadential oliophony," or "precadent harmonic environment," and maybe even "penultimate progressive antecedents" might work just as well!

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Sacred cows make the best hamburger. - Clemens